Kiev-17

Kiev-17 is the first camera with a Nikon-Kiev mount, which was produced in the Arsenal factory and was one of the few semi-professional SLR cameras in the soviet union.

Kiev-17, like most of the products manufactured at the Arsenal plant, was positioned as a more professional camera, in contrast to cameras produced at the FED, KMZ and LOMO factories.

Kiev-17 Specifications

Type: 35mm SLR camera
Manufacturer: Arsenal plant
Production period: from 1977 to 1984
Format: 24x36cm on 135 film
Lens mount: Nikon F-mount
Lens: Helios-81H f2.0/50
Viewfinder image field size: 23×35mm
Shutter: focal-plane shutter with speeds from 1 to 1/1000 sec.
Viewfinder: SLR with non-removable pentaprism
Light meter: none
Flash synchronisation: sync socket “X”, sync speeds from 1/60s and longer.
Selftimer: mechanical
Weight: 1100 grams

The Kiev-17 camera replaced the unpromising Kiev-15 and served as the basis for a number of Soviet SLR cameras with the Nikon-F mount.

The most common mount in the Soviet Union was the M-42 mount, which was hopelessly outdated at the end of the 70s. In light of this and the fact that the Olympic Games were to be held ahead, it was decided to create a line of modern cameras based on the Nikon mount.

The Kiev-17 camera has a shutter cock lever combined with film rewind. The trigger has two positions – working and transport. In addition, this Soviet camera is equipped with a film advance lever combined with a shutter cocking, which greatly simplifies the process of working with the camera.

The body of this camera is made of aluminum alloy and has an opening door for film loading. A hidden lock to open the back door resets the frame counter at the same time.

Kiev-17 was equipped with a fairly advanced shutter by Soviet standards, which had a range of shutter speeds from 1 sec to 1/1000 sec. For example, most Zenit cameras of those years had a rather meager range of shutter speeds from 1/30 sec to 1/500 sec, inherited from the first Zorki rangefinders.

This camera, like the rest of the Soviet Nikon mount SLRs, has a very unusual location for the shutter speed knob located on the front panel. Another distinctive feature of this camera is that it was equipped with a shutter with metal lamels. Again, Zenit cameras of those years were equipped with a hopelessly outdated shutter with fabric curtains.

In addition, Kiev-17 was equipped with a self-timer and a hot shoe for attaching additional accessories. This camera does not have a light meter, which in our opinion is a big drawback.

At various times, the Kiev-17 camera was equipped with Helios-81M 2/53 or Volna-4N 1.5/50 lenses, which are attached to the body using with Nikon F-mount.

Conclusion

Kiev-17 is a very good Soviet camera, which, unfortunately, is not without drawbacks. One of these drawbacks is the lack of a light meter. But nevertheless, the advantages in this camera are more than disadvantages. Kiev-17 has a good number of shutter speeds, a fairly good shutter, a comfortable and large viewfinder. In addition, with this camera you can use lenses from your Nikon without any adapters.